Large, motorized recreational vehicles ("RV's") and towable travel trailers, have become a popular mode of travel for retirees and other vacationers. RV's and travel trailers allow a person to travel in comfort without requiring prior arrangement of hotel reservations. An RV traveler needs only to locate an RV trailer park or campground en route, drive in and park, setup the RV/travel trailer, and relax for the evening. Luggage and other belongings do not need to be carried into or out of a motel room each time the traveler moves to a new location. An RV/travel trailer is effectively, a self-contained "home on wheels." As such, an RV/travel trailer typically includes its own onboard toilet system, including an associated sewage holding tank.
Since the key feature of an RV or travel trailer is its mobility, the size of an onboard sewage holding tank is necessarily limited to avoid placing too sizable a load on the RV/travel trailer which would substantially detract from the fuel efficiency of the RV or travel trailer towing vehicle. Hence, while traveling or periodically camping, arrangements need to be made to dispose of accumulated sewage. To that end, an RV/travel trailer's holding tank is equipped with a discharge or outlet pipe extending out the bottom of the holding tank. Two separate sewage disposal modes are typically encountered when traveling in an RV or with a towed travel trailer.
In a first mode, during active freeway operation, sewage is typically disposed of at an appropriate stationary waste disposal site found en route at a truck stop, gas station or campground. These sites typically provide a vertical threaded tubular riser or inlet tube through which the accumulated sewage may be dumped into the stationary waste disposal site. Typically, a free end of a sewage hose connected to the outlet pipe on the RV/travel trailer sewage holding tank is inserted into the interior of the riser. This free end typically does not have an appropriate fitting to allow it to seal with the tubular riser of the stationary waste disposal site. The accumulated sewage is released from the tank, and travels through the sewage hose into the inground stationary disposal site.
Because the hose is not sealed to the riser, this disposal method is unsanitary and may result in spills of raw sewage about the waste disposal site, causing an unsightly and inappropriate health hazard for future users. Additionally, the party disposing of sewage is forced to deal with a free end of the sewage hose that must be thoroughly washed off and disinfected to avoid inadvertent peripheral contamination by raw sewage. The washing and disinfection process may also cause raw sewage to be inadvertently strewn about the waste disposal site.
In a second mode, with the RV or travel trailer parked at a campsite for an extended period of time, sewage may be dumped immediately and continuously from the onboard holding tank into a sewage manifold and collection system accessible from each parking space at the campsite. The free end of a sewage hose may once again be inserted into a tubular riser at each parking space which is connected to the campsite sewage collection manifold system. This connection system is also undesirable since it creates an open sewage system that can pose a significant health hazard. The open system could clog or fill with rain water which could cause unsightly and unsanitary back flow of raw sewage about the point of connection near the parked RV/travel trailer, once again creating a potentially hazardous health situation. Also, different parts have different sizes and threaded coupling configurations, making establishment of a sealed interface difficult.
Accordingly, a need exists for an RV/travel trailer sewage removal system that can be easily, quickly and sanitarily connected and disconnected from male or female threaded risers of different sizes at a stationary waste disposal site or collection system.